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Remember the movie Jerry McGuire? In the movie, Jerry McGuire (played by Tom Cruise) is the agent to a football player named Rod Tidwell (played by Cube Gooding Jr.). Tidwell is in the middle of a contract negotiation and he has not received the kind of offer from his team that he feels he deserves.

Gotta love Rod Tidwell!

In the famous “Help me-help you!” scene-Jerry is begging Rod to act like he cares about something other than money, to help secure a better offer from his team. To which Rod replies (angrily) “Wait a minute...you’re telling me to dance!” He’s upset because he doesn’t think he should have to “dance”...that his talent and worth to the team should be self-evident. Yet, it really doesn’t work that way, does it? Sometimes we all have to “dance!” Let me explain further ...

When I first got into the multifamily industry, I was pretty confident that I was going to be a “rock star.” I had a successful career in sales and management prior to entering the industry and thought that my previous success would carry over into the property management world. And while I did okay, it was clear to me that the people I worked with didn’t think my actual performance matched the potential they saw when they hired me. Like, Rod Tidwell...I didn’t always want to dance-and that held me back in my career. In my early days as a leasing agent, my manager would remind me that I needed to close with my prospects. I would get frustrated because I was attempting to close with all of my prospects, I just didn’t always do it when and where my manager wanted me to. So, if I had a week where my numbers weren’t where they should have been, what do you think my manager’s thought process was? Probably something like this ... “Hmm, I don’t hear him asking for the sale. His numbers are down this week. That must be why he is not performing. Even after I’ve asked him to work on his closing!”Then one day, after being talked to again by my manager, the senior leasing agent sat me down and set me straight! He said, “I know you’re asking for the sale ... you just need to do it in front of her, too!” I gave him a little bit of pushback, as I didn’t think I should have to dance. But, he really was right-I did need to dance. I swallowed my pride and changed things up to make sure that I closed in front of her. That piece of advice changed my career, in a lot of ways.Ready to Waltz?During my career, I noticed that the “higher ups” often made their minds up about employees based on pretty small sample sizes. An associate who performed poorly on a couple of shops would get tagged as a poor leaser. One complaint could make “Corporate” think an associate treats all residents poorly. One bad property walk could create doubt in a manager’s ability to run a community effectively. So, when you have opportunities to “dance,” you need to take advantage of them. Let those small sample sizes work in your favor. And, if you are required to do something you don’t think you should, one day, when you’re the boss, you can change it. But you have to be the boss first. In what ways have you had to dance?

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Rommel Anacan

I am a national speaker, trainer, and strategic consultant to companies and organizations. I'm alsothe president and founder of The Relationship Difference a professional and personal development company in Orange County, California.

My passion is helping people succeed by helping them connect, communicate and engage with the people around them more effectively.

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